Sources have reported that a Pakistan Lay Pastor has been killed by unknown assailants and a priest got wounded as they drove home from a worship service on Sunday, January 30th 2022 in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar.
William Siraj, 75 was shot and he died immediately during the ambush in the Gulbahar neighborhood, while the Rev. Patrick Naeem, 55, sustained a bullet wound according to Bishop of Peshawar, Humphrey Peters. Another Church leader in the car was unharmed.
According to Bishop Peters, they were coming back from All Saints Church Parish in the Ring Road area when two gunmen on a motorcycle intercepted their car and shot sporadically on them.
He said “Siraj received one bullet in the forehead and one on the arm and died instantly, while Rev. Naeem received a bullet wound on the hand,” “It’s a miracle that Rev. Naeem and another priest escaped the volley of bullets.”
Until his death, Siraj led worship at three different parishes while Naeem was the priest of the All Saints Church parish.
Bishop Humphrey Peters said “Siraj had lost his son-in-law in the gun-and-bomb attack on Peshawar’s All Saints Church in 2013, in which over 70 worshippers were killed and 100 others were wounded,” “He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. This is a very tragic loss for our Church.”